Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea fought hard against a determined Leicester side to clinch three points at home in a tight affair at Stamford Bridge.
The pressure was on Chelsea to win this weekend following their devastating loss to Leeds United last week, but a double by Raheem Sterling and a strong defensive showing in the closing stages was enough to take the Blues closer to their desired Champions League places.
Chelsea fielded the same starting line-up as their 3-0 defeat to Leeds, with the exception of the suspended Kalidou Koulibaly who was replaced by Trevoh Chalobah. Leicester meanwhile had to face the World Champions without James Maddison who missed out due to injury.
Both teams were under pressure in this clash, with neither teams having the start to the seasons their fans would wish.
Before the first ball was kicked this afternoon, Leicester found themselves slumped in the relegation zone while Chelsea looked to edge their way up to the European places from their disappointing 12th position.
Story of the Match
Chelsea opened the game the stronger side, dominating possession and pressurising Leicester continuously without the ball.
The Foxes were afforded little space or time in possession and struggling to break out of their own half.
Chelsea’s consistent pressure nearly paid off, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek twisting and turning in the box before being taken down by Youri Tielemans, but a lengthy VAR check deemed the former Crystal Palace loanee offside in the build-up - a lucky escape for Leicester.
Chelsea did not let the penalty disappointment hold them back, however. Tackles flew in from Conor Gallagher and Jorginho who destroyed hope of a Leicester counter attack to cause a frustrating opening for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Chelsea were offered a good chance halfway through the first half, after new £47.5 million signing Raheem Sterling managed to seize possession and slip Kai Havertz through on goal, but the England international’s pass was far too heavy for the German.
While Chelsea remained dominant, they began giving away a few unnecessary fouls, resulting in a booking for Gallagher and a warning for Havertz.
Chelsea may have been the dominant side until this point, but edginess still lingered amongst the players.
But despite this edginess, Tuchel’s team continued to dominate the attack. They stuck to their game plan by playing out from the back and utilising their pacey wingbacks in Reece James and Marc Cucurella who consistently stretched the play, suffocating the Foxes.
But football being football, the tide quickly turned.
Following a Chelsea corner, Leicester found themselves with a golden counter attacking opportunity. Harvey Barnes latched onto the loose ball just before Gallagher, already booked, tripped the young winger up to prevent the attack.
Despite hopeless appeals of his innocence, Gallagher was given a second yellow and no doubt a telling off by his manager.
Leicester looked to capitalise on a shaken Chelsea.
The Blues became more compact and less aggressive in their attack after going down to ten men, allowing Leicester to string some decent passages of play together.
But the tide was beginning to turn for Tuchel’s team, and not for the better.
Leicester managed to get the ball into the back of the net but was quickly ruled out due to a free kick in the box.
Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy looked shaky in this passage of play following his mistake last week which gifted Leeds a goal.
Despite Chelsea’s setback of losing a man in midfield, they continued to dominate possession and control the tempo, with Leicester having to relying on counter attacks to try and claim the points due to Chelsea’s possessional dominance.
Following a thunderous attempt by Tielemans from outside the area, Chelsea found themselves with a set-piece opportunity on the edge of the Leicester area, but James’ free kick only succeeds at hitting Leicester centre back Johnny Evans in the wall.
Chelsea had a golden chance after a Sterling cross deflected off Havertz, giving Reece James a chance to volley, but the thunderous effort smashed into the post.
Seconds later however, Leicester latched onto another counter attack – this time Jamie Vardy used his trademark speed to get in behind, but the Premier League winners’ attempt failed to trouble Mendy.
Both teams went into the break frustrated – at 0-0 the game could go either way.
Final Nail in the Coffin?
But after just one minute of the second half, Sterling produced a moment of beauty from nothing.
With two Leicester players in front of him, Chelsea’s marquee signing lofted the ball over the pair perfectly and slipped the ball over a helpless Danny Ward in goal – a beautiful way to open your account for your new club.
Sterling almost doubled his tally just a few minutes later after Cucurella’s cross deflected nicely for Sterling to latch onto.
One-on-one against Ward however, Sterling lashed his effort into the post - another let off for Leicester.
Leicester looked add a new attacking dimension to their play with the introduction of Kelechi Iheanacho and Ayoze Perez.
The balance of the game began to even out, with Leicester impacting the game much more effectively and managing to maintain some decent passages of play, giving Chelsea some questions to answer.
Iheanacho looked dangerous upon his introduction, often getting in between Chelsea’s defensive and midfield lines to cause problems.
The former Manchester City man kept pressurising Chelsea’s defence, signalling the end of the London sides' possessional dominance.
But Leicester’s hopeful start to the second half was tarnished yet again.
Raheem Sterling yet again writing his own name on the scoresheet after Reece James’ powerful cross met Sterling, who was floating near the goal line to neatly tap the ball in to double Chelsea’s lead.
2-0.
But the Foxes did not give up, and three minutes after conceding to Sterling's second, Leicester managed to get themselves back into the game.
A neat piece of interplay between Vardy and Barnes in the penalty area lead to Barnes leathering his attempt past Mendy to give his side some hope of gaining something at Stamford Bridge.
Iheanacho was an inspired substitution and was constantly causing problems for Chelsea, including a curling effort from the edge of the box which narrowly went over the cross bar – Leicester were not giving up in this fight.
The game opened up quickly with both teams having good chances to extend their tallies.
Iheanacho tested Mendy again with an effort on target, but the weak attempt wasn’t enough to beat the Senegalese international ‘keeper to gets low and parries the attempt wide.
Jamie Vardy almost equalled the score after a teasing ball over the defence was latched onto by Leicester’s striker in typical Jamie Vardy fashion, but Mendy maked himself big enough to keep his side ahead.
Leicester were really going for it and in from the final fifteen minutes, with the Foxes pushing forward to challenge Chelsea.
Vardy again had a golden opportunity to equalise with another ball over the top.
The striker was too strong for Chalobah and Vardy ended up one-on-one with Mendy, but the goalkeeper’s exceptional positioning forces Vardy to take the shot from a tight angle and lash his effort into the side netting.
Leicester continued to pile on the pressure against Chelsea, with the London side being pinned into their own half in the closing fifteen minutes of the match.
Chelsea remained a tight defensive unit however and had a good answer to every one of Leicester’s tough questions.
Leicester's final push nearly sent the away end into anarchy.
Daniel Amartey's neatly slipped ball tore Chelsea's defence open, meeting the feet of substitute Ayoze Perez. He rifled the shot with all the power that a late equaliser deserved, but only managed to guide the ball into the cross bar.
The full-time whistle blew, ending the back-and-forth affair 2-1 in favour of Tuchel's side.
Leicester will feel hard done by not to leave Stamford Bridge with all three points, but Chelsea's superb attacking moments and solid defence throughout the second half saw them victors.
Player of the Match - Reece James
Despite Sterling's double to win Chelsea the points this afternoon, Reece James' excellence across the pitch earns him player of the match.
The right wing-back was influential across the pitch, being instrumental in most of Chelsea's most promising attacking moves, gaining himself an assist for Sterling's second.